Articles in 2019

The tissue culture bottleneck for gene editing in plants can be overcome by modifying somatic cells in whole plants and inducing the formation of shoot meristems.

During spermiogenesis, piRNAs are the core of a complex that selects mRNAs for translation activation

Infection with RNA viruses of the Flaviviridae family leads to changes in the methylation of host mRNAs that are driven by induction of innate immunity and endoplasmic reticulum stress

The expression of endogenous genes is increased by their association with nuclear speckles.

Cholesterol is an important structural component of all animal cell membranes that functions in various processes, including membrane dynamics and cell signalling, and is also a precursor of other molecules. Deregulation of cholesterol metabolism — biosynthesis, dietary absorption and cellular uptake, storage and efflux — is linked to many diseases, including cardiovascular and genetic diseases, and cancer. A better understanding of cholesterol metabolism offers the possibility to control systemic cholesterol levels to improve human health.

Marianne Farnebo describes how the application of microscopy techniques has provided valuable information on repeats RNAs.

Catalytically inactive caspase 8 can activate pyroptosis when apoptosis and necroptosis are blocked, a potential line of defence against viruses that inhibit cell death.

Cohesin is reported to form DNA loops in interphase chromatin by a mechanism of DNA loop extrusion.

The Integrator complex fine-tunes mRNA levels in response to stress by attenuating productive transcription elongation

Animal circadian rhythms are controlled by central and peripheral molecular clocks, whose components generate oscillations in their own abundance and activity. Insights into how these clocks time the function of organs and tissues is increasing our understanding of animal physiology.

Lysosomes are mainly associated with cellular waste disposal. But it has recently been discovered that by integrating various environmental cues, they have a broader role as regulatory hubs for cellular and organismal homeostasis. The modulation of lysosome function could thus be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer as well as metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.

Nutrient status is uncoupled from the control of autophagy during mitosis through a switch from mTORC1- to CDK1-mediated inhibition of autophagy regulators.

AAA+ proteins are macromolecular machines that remodel a vast array of cellular substrates, including protein aggregates, macromolecular complexes and polymers. Recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy have enabled visualization of them while in action, leading to a better understanding of the mechanisms of engagement and processing of their diverse substrates.

Exosomes are a route for expelling iron out of cells exposed to ferroptotic stimuli, thereby protecting them from ferroptotic cell death.

Although organelles compartmentalize eukaryotic cells, they can communicate and integrate their activities by connecting at membrane contact sites (MCSs). The roles of MCSs in biology are becoming increasingly clear, with MCSs now known to function in intracellular signalling, lipid metabolism, membrane dynamics, organelle biogenesis and the cellular stress response.

Endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) are key membrane remodellers, which drive the budding, scission and sealing of various cellular membranes. Accordingly, ongoing research focuses on how ESCRTs mediate a wide-range of cellular processes, including cytokinesis, endosome maturation, autophagy, membrane repair and viral replication.

Compounds that tether toxic proteins with polyglutamine expansions to autophagosomes promote their autophagic clearance and might, in principle, be suitable for the treatment of associated neurodegenerative diseases.

Novel methods for tracking the progeny of single cells involve prospective lineage tracing, in which DNA barcodes are introduced into single cells and tracked over time, or retrospective lineage tracing, in which somatic mutations are used as DNA barcodes. These methods improve our understanding of cell fates in development, cell differentiation and tissue regeneration.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the different RNA polymerases of eukaryotes with a collection of Reviews on transcription.